Mail-bag-delivering device for railway cars



Oct. 7 1924.

s. l.. KING'ET Al.

MAIL BAG DELIVERING DEVI-Cf,l FOR RAILWAY CARS.

Filed dan. 25. 192:5- 2 sheets-snes: 1

INVENTORS J6 "W Tfrmw l n Oct. 7 1924.

' S.. I.. KING ET AL MAIL BAAG DELIVERING DEVICE lFOR RAILWAY CARS 2 sheets-snee.

Filed Jan. 25.

Patented Oct. 7, 1924.

PATEN sYLvEsTER L.' KING AND LEROY J. KING, or s'r. PAUL,` MINNESOTA.

MAIL-BAG-DELIVERING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY CA'RS.

Application filed January 25, 1923. Serial No. 614,822.

T 0 all whom t may conce/Mt:

Be it known that we, SYLvEsTER L. KING andLERoY J. KING. citizens of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag-Delivering Devices for Railway Cars, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to devices for droppingor delivering mail pouches from railwayfcars in motion,- and the object is to provide an improved device of said kind.

In the accompanying drawings- Fig. 1 is a cross section of a mail car equipped with our device and showing also a device on the ground for receiving the mail pouches.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2---2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1 showing also two hooks, one for holding the device in idle position and another for bracing the device in the middle of the car door in operative position.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on the line 4--4 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a left hand end view of'Fig. 6 and Fig. 6 is an enlarged portion of Fig. 1. Y

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, 7 designates a mail car having wheels 8 on track rails 9, and near said track is fixed, on a platform 10, a frame 11 holding a smooth curved sheet 12 of such length as may insure receiving a mail bag f dropped from a running car.

'Ihe receiver 12 may be made of sheet metal or wood, smooth at the top and formed with an incline 12a, a curve 12b and a guard 12c so that when a mail bag 13 is dropped from a tiltable support 14 comprising a shallow tray carried by the car it drops upon the incline 12a where its downward slidingV motion prevents a hard blow to itfand as it moves into the curve 12b and paitly up the inclined guard 12c it is lodged in the position 13a in a comparatively easy manner without damage to its contents.

Fixed upon the platform 10 or to frame 11, or to both, is a post 15,which when the mail car 7 passes the platform contacts with and operates the mail carrying device, whichv will now be described.

The car 7 usuallyv has two opposite door openings 16, 16a. Above said openings we fix across the car a track 17 which is preferably a pipe of i suitable diameter forV strength. Aboveeach end of the track 17V is fixed'a fork 18 (see Fig. 2). 19 is a-carriage having supporting wheels 20 riding on the track 17 and at the ends lof the track enters into either one of the forks `13 so as to hold the carriage from tilting sidewise on the single rail 17. f

Slidably journaled in the carriage is the vertical stem 21 of a horizontally disposed framer 22. Said stem has. two diametrically opposite pins yor projections -23V arranged to engage in not-ches l24 in the carriage and thereby hold the frame .22 in transverse direction of themail car and in the middle of one of the door openings to be used for delivering a mail bag as the car is in motion.

Journaled in the frame 22 is a horizontal shaft 25, having fixed on its outer end the plate 14 supportingthe mail bag 13, and adjacent thereto it has a radial downward arm 26 with a pin 27 engaging in a slot 28 .of a beam lever 29 which is fulcrumed at 30 on an arm 3l depending from the frame 22. arranged to contact with the post 15 and .thus automatically cause the support 14 to In Fig. 5, 37 indicates a spring holding Y Laatst The lower arm of said beam leveris the dog 34 in the notch 35 with sufcient pressure to prevent accidental disengage-k ment, but the spring will yield and ylet the dog escape the instant the rocker arm 26 i n (in Figs. 1 and 4) is actuated by beam lever 29 and obstruction post 15. If the car is running at a high speed the operator may facilitate the rocking of the shaft 25 by re- 10oLA leasing the dog from the notch by the finger lever 33 andletting it rest upon the enlargement 36 ready to move further away from the notch when the post l5 is hit.

In some cases the operator may also drop the mail bag by operating hand lever 32 regardless of the post 15 and the auto-matic means actuated by the post.

When the device is to deliver a mail bag` from the opposite door, 16a, the stem 21 is pushed upward and given half a turn and i let'down again with the pins 23 each into a notcli 24 opposite from the notch previously occupied. This leaves the device in the dotted line position 22 in Fig. l, ready` to be projected through the door opening 16a. 38 and 38a are braces pivoted at 39 and formed each With a double hook 40 (see Fig. 3) adapted to engage over the frame 22 and hold it steady against the strain caused by the post 15.

l/Vhen the device is idle it may ber turned on its track 171 to the horizontal position shown in Fig. 3 and supported-by a-hook-l hanging from the roof 42 ofthe car.

It isv obvious that a mail receiving device similar to that marked mn-e122 may be placed any desired distance from a passenger depot and at either sider of' the track;

'Vhat We claim isli. In a devicek of' the class describech means for vreceiving a mailbag from a moving mail car, and means on thecar for carrying the mail bag,said carrying means com'- prising a'track-y fixed across" the interior of the car above the opposite door openings thereof7 Wheels running on said track, a carriage suspended from the Wheels7 a mechanism frame having an upright shaft journaled in the carriage,i a horizontally disposed shaft jour'naled in the mechanism frame and having at one end a tray on which to lay a mail bag7 and means for partly rotating the latter shaft When the tray is outside of and in spaced relation to the side ofthe car, so as tov cause the mail bag todropv from the tray, saidv tray Whe-n in operativeposition being t-i'ltable in a direct-ionparallel to the side` of the car.

2. rThe structurespecified in" claiinl, and means for locking the rotatablestem ofthe carriage When the mail carrying lshaft is directed in either one of tWoopposite directions.

In testimony whereof vv'e afliX- our` signatures.- c I y SYLVESTER L.4 KING. LERGY J. KING. 

